1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly, to a digital camera equipped with a large-screen display section and suitable for photographing and playback of images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In digital cameras provided with display sections such as liquid crystal monitors, the increase in size of display sections has created conflicting issues of improvement in gripability of such digital cameras and downsizing of the camera main bodies. In other words, in a digital camera equipped with a large-screen display section, only a grip portion of the camera main body must be enlarged in order to enhance gripability. Additionally, in light of the increased size in display screens, various innovations have been made on digital cameras in order to protect their display screens from scratches or stains. For instance, a digital camera with a built-in cover member for protecting a display screen is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-298773.
In this digital camera, a cover member is provided on the camera main body so as to be slidable. When the camera is not in use, the cover member is pushed back into the camera main body to be housed therein, and moves to a position which partially or entirely covers the display screen to provide protection thereof. In addition, by pulling out the cover member from the camera main body when using the camera, the entire display screen becomes exposed, and at the same time, the cover member moves to the side of the camera main body to be used as a grip portion, thereby enhancing gripability. Furthermore, the disclosure of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-298773 includes a playback mode for reading out image data stored in a storage section to display the images on a liquid crystal monitor.
However, since the digital camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-298773 is provided with a fixed grip section on the camera main body on which a large-screen display section is mounted, the camera has a disadvantage in that only the grip section of the camera increases in size when carrying the camera. Additionally, since a space for housing the cover member is formed in the grip section of the camera described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-298773, a problem exists in which the grip section increases in size, necessitating increasing in size of the camera.